Drawing a shortlist straw

IS IT possible that Pat Grant's graphic novel Blue, which has been named by Salon as ''the great graphic novel of 2012'', could win the Man Booker Prize? It's not impossible, but probably unlikely. It's possible because the chairman of the Booker judges for next year, Robert Macfarlane, told a British newspaper he would be open to entries for the prize from authors of graphic novels. He said novels by 19th-century writers such as Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins had always been illustrated, but he conceded that if any publisher did enter a graphic novel it would provoke ''great discussion''. However, graphic novelists would be encouraged also by the shortlisting of two works - Days of Bagnold Summer by Joff Winterhart and Dotter of Her Father's Eyes by Mary M.Talbot and Bryan Talbot - for the Costa novel and biography prize, respectively. Blue, which was partly inspired by the Cronulla riots, was published by Ivor Indyk's Giramondo this year. Indyk, better known as a publisher of highly literary works, says it might be a bit tricky for Blue because as a graphic novel ''it's a bit of a hybrid, as it has an essay about surfing in it''. Nevertheless, he says Blue's story is topical and ambiguous. His other concern about graphic novels in the Booker is the question of language. ''In principle I like the idea, but it does seem to suggest that language is secondary. The Booker opening to graphic novels strikes me as opening a real can of worms. Perhaps there should be a big prize dedicated to the graphic novel or the graphic narrative.'' Blue is published in the US by Top Shelf Productions, which has a distributor in Britain. Did Indyk think that, if it were eligible, Blue should be entered for the Booker? ''Absolutely.''

Publisher be damned

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WHEN the late Bryce Courtenay was selling the rights to his first novel, The Power of One, he received lots of lucrative offers. But he and his accountant were puzzled by one, which promised plenty but left the amount blank. On inquiry, the publisher involved admitted it had not yet received permission from its New York masters to offer big money. So Courtenay's accountant ditched it. Flash forward a few years and Courtenay let it be known that he was again looking for a publisher. Offers flooded in, of course. And he received a phone call from the New York-based president of one big publisher making a mega offer. ''So,'' Courtenay asked, ''which of my books is your favourite?'' ''Oh, I haven't read any,'' came the reply, ''but I am going to.'' The conversation came to an abrupt end: ''I don't think you'd be a suitable publisher for my books,'' Courtenay said. He went on to sign up with Penguin, where he remained for the rest of his writing life.

Spoke to the busy woman

IT'S always said that Bryce Courtenay knew his readers. So who were they? This is what he reckoned when we spoke about it a couple of years ago. ''I believe my average reader is a woman, she's aged between 40 and 60 - I know that for a fact - but she's a busy mother, she starts with a couple of kids. She wakes up in the morning, she irons the school clothes, gets them away; she works herself, her husband has a role but it's only a role; she gets home at night and maybe manages an hour's TV after cooking dinner. And she manages half an hour reading in bed, and hopefully she reads me.''

New-media role

SHE might not be on the radio any more, but Ramona Koval is back in the broadcasting business. She is to host The Monthly magazine's online books show, which will start in late January. It will involve Koval (who left Radio National last year when management decided to turn The Book Show into a more general arts and books program) interviewing writers, discussing new releases, interacting with viewers and recommending books. Koval's most recent book, By the Book: A Reader's Guide to Life, was published in October.

Dairy made nauseating

THERE are plenty of prizes writers want to win, but only a few they would rather steer clear of - unless, of course, they are particularly good sports. On Tuesday in London, this year's Literary Review Bad Sex Award will be presented, and those vying not to win are Nicola Barker (The Yips), Nicholas Coleridge (The Adventuress), Nancy Huston (Infrared), Paul Mason (Rare Earth), Ben Masters (Noughties), Sam Mills (The Quiddity of Will Self), Craig Raine (The Divine Comedy) and Tom Wolfe (Back to Blood). The prize is not intended to cover pornographic or expressly erotic literature, which perhaps explains why E.L. James is not on the list. Here's a sample of Barker's gluggy prose: ''She smells of almonds, like a plump Bakewell pudding; and he is the spoon, the whipped cream, the helpless dollop of warm custard.''

No to the Mo win

THERE was an ambivalent reaction in October when it was announced that Mo Yan was the winner of this year's Nobel prize in literature. Some people were uneasy that Mo was the vice-chairman of the China Writers' Association, a government-backed body, while others said he was subtly critical of the authorities. The fact Mo had not spoken out about the imprisonment of the 2010 peace prize winner, Liu Xiaobo, until October was also troubling for some. But there was no ambivalence on the part of 2009 literature laureate Herta Mueller. She told a Swedish newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, that Mo's win was a catastrophe and that he celebrated censorship. What's more, she said, giving the prize to Mo while Liu remained in jail was ''a slap in the face for all those working for democracy and human rights''. Mueller's The Hunger Angel was published in Australia this month.

Events

MONDAY DAVID Astle - DA in The Saturday Age's puzzle page - celebrates the launch of Puzzled: Secrets and Clues from a Life Lost in Words with an evening of word play. 7pm, Fitzroy Town Hall Reading Room, 201 Napier Street. Bookings: yarralibraries@yarracity.vic.gov.au; 1300 695 427.

Poetry

She reflects on the rigoursof the detailed inventory,The guide-roped examinationfrom a typing pool executive,Natural pearl complimentsfrom the thinnest occupations,Other humped and horned inheritorsof dining room importance.Most are steam upon her snow,yapping old craters.There are Gods for such things,empires all in pieces.Instructing children to their quartersin stepping stone order -Clean your teeth, fill their glass -she makes tea-cake conversationEnlights each prismwith seasoned cautionAs precise as a lathe,never cuts against the grainOr too close to the bristlethat cannot resistThe perfumed contoursof her lustrous throat.